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Why are you so serious? Surely, you must be kidding. This is something I would tell my younger self at the beginning stage of my marriage. Life is short (unless you're Methuselah or Yoda) and it goes by way too quickly to get hung up on frivolous…

https://vimeo.com/895930504?share=copy What do engaged couples need to know about finances during marriage prep? This is a big question to answer. Especially considering the diversity of couples who get married in the Catholic Church. Did…

Red light, green light. It’s a game I’ve seen some couples play as their approach to using Natural Family Planning (NFP). The woman attends most or all of the teaching sessions for the chosen method of NFP, she diligently charts and asks…

From single, to used, to married... My journey with NFP in real life has been anything but linear. A loop-de-loop would be a more appropriate term. Even before marriage, I was encouraged by a Catholic mentor to proactively begin charting…

"Well…I suppose we could put you on the pill for that.” This was a phrase I heard all too often during my adolescence. When I sought help for longer than normal periods, the sharp pain in my abdomen, or troublesome acne, the answer always…

You Are Not an Island: The Value of Networking With Fellow Family Life Ministers Picture an island in the middle of the ocean. The words that come to mind when you think of an island may be: disconnected, isolated, lonely, independent. While…

In 2022, we were blessed to serve over 6,000 engaged Catholic couples from 72 countries around the world. We recently reflected on the data collected from our course participants, and we saw a marked difference in a couple of key areas. As…

The ministry of marriage preparation is a lot like driving a car; just when you think the road is smooth and straight and free of obstacles, you discover bumps, twists and turns, and, of course, traffic lights. Most of the time, we hope for…

The Church offers us Advent and Christmas as a time to be refreshed and renewed, but if you’re a priest, deacon, or lay minister, the holiday season can feel overwhelming. How do you use this time to serve others and feel renewed in your…

The NACFLM conference is a great place to grow your ministry and connect with other leaders. We'd love to meet you and show you how The Marriage Group can support your ministry to families!

Three Things I’ve Learned After 25 Years of Marriage: Part One This may seem odd, but I don’t really like giving marital advice. In order to give advice, you need to be thought of as someone who has attained a certain level of expertise…

Moving in together is a big step in any relationship. You’ve just been married, and now you’re ready to take on your world together in a new home. However, one of the biggest reasons couples fight at this stage, or any stage, is financial…

Walking Through the Valley of the Shadow Together If you’re together for any length of time, walking through a season of grief with your partner is inevitable. Depending on the nature of your partner’s relationship with the deceased,…

If there’s something in your past you haven’t revealed to your partner, it may seem like it’s not that important. Especially if you’ve made it from dating to engagement or even marriage without telling them. However, keeping secrets,…

What phrases do you need to hear from your spouse?

When I was a young mom, I had several mentors in my life that were around 15 years or more older than me and in the later stages of parenting. To me, they radiated spirituality after years of practicing their faith, and they seemed so composed…

Love is in the air! Greeting cards, chocolates, and roses fill every aisle at the grocery store. Your favorite local restaurant is booked solid on the 14th. Couples everywhere are celebrating their undying love for one another — for one day…

Jump to: Get Started Review, Refocus, and Reenergize Your Marriage Romancing and Pursuing Each Other Growing in Love — Practically and Spiritually Put it in Action It's the beginning of the year, and for most, that…

Fall is a great time for those of us who love anything pumpkin, cooler weather, and apple orchards. It is also a great time to reflect upon the time we've spent for the past several months, as the year begins to wind down.

Whether you just started your adventure together, or you are seasoned veterans when it comes to marriage, we all know how important it is to maintain consistent and intentional date nights. It may actually be more important once you start having…

In 2020 we served over 6,500 couples from all over the world. Let's take a look at the information from couples who took our most popular Pre-Cana course in 2020, Living Our Faith in Love. Data was interesting for Pre-Cana in 2020   Dioceses…

God is Bigger than a Pandemic. By now, we probably do not want to hear anything else about COVID-19 and its effects on our lives. The whole world has changed because of this pandemic. There are many adaptations, changes, and new ways of doing…

Aside from our wedding day, New Year’s Eve in 2018 was the best day of my life. Jake, my best friend and boyfriend of five years, proposed. We were elated, ringing in the new year bearing the excitement of becoming husband and wife. But after…

Ensure that couples preparing for an upcoming wedding can still complete an approved, comprehensive Pre-Cana program even if their in-person class was canceled.

The holidays represent a great challenge to marriages and family life. We all enjoy getting together with family and friends and spending time with them. Balancing new marriages, the holidays, and the extended family can be difficult. What happens…

If you’re wondering if you can get married by a priest outside a Catholic church, it’s important to know the Church’s position on the celebration of weddings at places other than a Catholic church.

An important aspect about preparing for marriage in the Catholic Church is finding and selecting the priest who will preside over the celebration. Couples usually find the church first and, therefore, the priest who is at that particular…

June is the beginning of summer in the United States. It is also when most couples and families take time to rest and re-energize. We take trips to visit the beach, the lake, parks, etc. In general, it is a season for rest and relaxation; a…

Today's Catholic couples are intentional about the marriage preparation experience, but they're busier than ever, so they desire flexibility. In 2018 alone, over 5,000 couples from around the world enjoyed our online marriage preparation experience! Having served more engaged Catholic couples than any other provider, we have learned a great deal about the couples themselves, how they found us, and their experience from start to finish.

First of all, congratulations on your engagement and soon coming wedding! What a very exciting, sacramental, and beautiful event in your life. Standing before God and man reciting your vows to your beloved is one of the most profound moments…

Everyone needs a cheerleader. Let us say that again: everyone needs a cheerleader. We can’t deny that there is an abundance of negative talk and images out there today. Although that may be true, we often miss that there is just as much,…

Merry Christmas to our parish and diocesan partners all around the country! We just wanted to send out a quick reminder about one of the challenges and blessings of marriage prep during the Christmas/Advent season. We serve thousands of couples…

We are offering a free eBook: Meeting Today's Churchgoers Online. This ebook discusses how to effectively communicate with your parishioners and attendees outside of the Church. Based on our previous blog post, you will learn to use Social…

The newlywed period is an exciting time. Not only are you still coming down from the buzz of your wedding and all its associated events, you and your partner are also getting to know each other as husband and wife. While this time can be blissful,…

Meeting today's churchgoers where they are should never mean compromising your message in order to be "hip" and "cool" (oh, how cringeworthy those buzz words are...). That being said, we cannot deny that times are changing, especially when…

Meeting Catholic Church Requirements Marriage prep should always be up-to-date with the changing of times. Young couples today desire accessible, convenient, uplifting, and modern ways of doing things. When planning to marry in the Catholic…